Wisconsin Resources Protection Council

August 20, 2020

Dear WRPC Member and Friends of the Menominee River,

Aquila Resources continues to provide misleading and inaccurate information about the status of the Back Forty project in its most recent financial report. The company’s June 2020 report states, “The Company has received the four primary permits required to commence construction and operations at Back Forty.”

Aquila has no Back Forty Dam Permit

However, the company has not yet submitted a revised Dam Safety Permit application since Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) rejected Aquila’s original application as incomplete and requested additional information. According to EGLE, “Aquila is not authorized to begin construction of the mine and will not be able to proceed until all permits, including the Dam Safety Permit have been approved by EGLE.”

Back Forty Mine along Wisconsin border faces insufficient funding, increasing opposition.

by Al Gedicks

July 26, 2020

urbanmilwaukee.com

Aftermath of the Brumadinho dam collapse in Brazil. Photo by TV NBR (CC BY 3.0)

The controversial proposed Back Forty open pit metallic sulfide mine on the Michigan-Wisconsin border has suffered major financial and permitting setbacks due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and increasing public concerns over the safety of tailings dams to store mine waste. The proposed mine, would be located next to the Menominee River, which flows into Lake Michigan, and has raised concerns about potential pollution.

May 13, 2020

Eagle Herald

Dear editor,

Thanks to a major pollution cleanup effort by multiple federal and state agencies and citizen groups, the Lower Menominee River will be delisted or removed as an area of concern for pollution and habitat loss. This restoration work took more than two decades and cost at least $200 million, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

February 6, 2020

Eagle Herald

Dear Editor,

My name is Tom Boerner, I have been involved in two contested cases hearings against permits issued to Aquila by EGLE and have just filed contested case petitions for two more: Air Quality Permit and Amended Part 632 Permit.

February 6, 2020

Eagle Herald

Dear Editor,

Brumadinho, Brazil again? Why? It is still about water.

One year ago (with 21st-century mining technology — exactly the type Aquila is proposing here) a mining tailings dam collapsed (like one does world-wide roughly every 8 months) dumping millions of tons of toxic sludge killing 270 people. In its path, the surrounding forest, nearby towns and waters were destroyed.

by Michele Bourdieu

Keweenaw Now

February 3, 2020

January 31, 2020

Eagle Herald

Dear Editor,

A year ago a tailings dam in Brazil, which is exactly the same design that Aquila will be using, failed and collapsed and resulted in the death of over 250 people. The sad part is that this wasn’t the first time such a thing has happened in Brazil. It also happened in November of 2015, a tailings dam burst and killed 19 individuals. One would think the first time it happened, that the country would take measures to make sure it doesn’t happen again, but no, fast forward to January 2019, it happened again at another site. The mine is still in operation today and the mining company claimed that the structure provided inadequate drainage and couldn’t handle the high water levels. It is easy for us to brush it off as if Brazil is an apathetic country that does not care about its people.